The priesthood of all believers is a very important doctrine that says all believers are called to be witnesses of Christ, and all of us share in Christ’s ministries. We are called by Christ and empowered and anointed by his Spirit to be prophets in our society, to be priests in our society, and to be kings (or princes) in our society as we witness of Christ.

United with Christ in Priesthood

The priesthood of all believers is a beautiful doctrine that was revived by the Reformers. Basically, it says that Christ is our priest and that all believers in Christ are priests, in some sense, like Christ. Not just a certain special class of people in the church, but all believers share in this priesthood as we share in Christ and as we participate with Christ in a spiritual union. That’s the beautiful doctrine that we find in Scripture.

For instance, Revelation 1 talks about how we are made kings and priests unto our God. And even earlier, in the Old Testament, Israel was called to be a kingdom of priests. (Ex. 19) And Peter picks up on the same truth in 1 Peter 2 when he says the church has this holy calling, a kingdom of priests, a royal priesthood. So the priesthood of believers is a beautiful doctrine that I think has a great value. And I don’t know if it has been undervalued so much as it could be valued even more. This can be applied to mission in a wonderful way in the witness of the church—not just the personal, inner relationship that we have with Christ as our priest, but also the corporate, outward-facing ministries of the church, the confession of the church in society.

I think the priesthood of all believers has something to say there too because as Christ is our priest, so we are priests in that same way as we are united to Christ spiritually. The Heidelberg Catechism touches on this in a wonderful way that takes this doctrine and expands on it a bit. If you look at the Heidelberg Catechism Lord’s Day 12, Q&A 31 and 32, the first question says, “Why is he called Christ?” (this is in my own words now) and “Why is he called the Messiah, the Christ, the anointed one?”

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